Oil well tubing head



M. C. DAVIS OIL WELL TUBING HEAD Filed Sept. 3,' 1953 Dec. 4, 1956 Arr'y,

OIL WELL TUBING HEAD V Melvin Davis, Denver, Colo. Application September 3, 1953, Serial No. 378,370 1 Claim.` (Cl. 251-194) This invention relates generally to oil well equipment nddis directed' particularly to improvements in tubing ea s.

A particular object of the present invention is to provide an improved tubing head having incorporated therein a novel ram type plug valve by means of which the tubing passage through the head can be tightly sealed oit or closed. i Another and more specic object ofthe invention is to Y provide a tubing head structure having a valve of the character lstated wherein novel means is provided for ef fecting the tight compression of a packing element between the plug of the valveV and adjacent surfaces of the head body after the plug has been disposed in position across the tubing passage or bore, whereby to maintain a tight seal. Y y t I A further and more specic object of the invention is to provide in a tubing head structure having a passage or bore through which the well tubing extends, a transversely;

directed passage intersecting the'tubing passage or bore wlth a cylindrical plug valve in said transverse passage v adapted to be disposed therein across the tubingpassage and wherein said plug is constructed in a novel manner whereby a body of packing material can be compressed and causedto presstightlyagainst surfaces ofthe tubing passage and theftransverse...passage toeiect the desired sealing oi of the tubing passage. i l

OtherrobjectsA and advantages of the-inventionlwill bep come apparent as the description of the `same proceeds and l in section, and in closed position.

Figure 2 is a sectional View taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Figure l. l

Figure3 is a view in perspective of the'intermediate or saddle element of the plug valve with the packing element in position thereagainst.

Figure4 is a ,detailed section taken substantially on the line 4 4 of the plug valve as shown in Figure l.

Referring nowrmore particularly to the drawing the numeral generally designates the tubing hea-d of the present invention which comprises an elongate body portion 12 through which is formed the axial bore or passage 14through which the well tubing, notV shown, extends when the head is in working position in oil-well apparatus.

At the top and bottom ends of the body 12 are the coupling flanges 16 and 18 respectively, and formed integral with the body 12 are the transversely directed,

nited States Patent() ICC aligned arms 20 and 22 through which are formed'the passages 24 and 26 respectively. These passages are coaxial and form a plug valve chamber having a diameter which is slightly greater than the diameter of the passage 14 as is clearly shown in Figure 2, so that at opposite sides of the passage 14 the sides of the valve chamber cut into the walls of the passage as indicated at 28 in Figure 2.

-Atthe outer end of one of the arms, Ihere shown as the arm20, there is securedthe closure flange 30 which is held inv place by bolts 32 in a conventional manner and in between this flange and the end'of the arm 20 is a gasket 33;

Upon the inner side of the ange there is formed the inwardly extending stop member or abutment 34,the purpose of which will hereinafter appear.

"The outer end of the other arm 22 is likewise closed, but the closure for this arm comprises a circular cap 35, whichfis provided with a cylindrical socket 36 which aligns with the adjacent passage 26 and between the cap and the end of the arm 22 is a sealing gasketY 37 which is compressed by the bolts 38 which secure the cap in position Von the end of the arm. n

The outer end of the' cap is provided with a bore 39 which is eccentrically positioned with respect to the socket 36 and passage 26 and intermediate its ends the Wall .of the bore 39 is provided with the lubricant channel 40.

A radialpassage 41 is provided in the outer end of the cap for the injection of-lubricant into the lubricant channel 40 by a Suitable means and-the outer end of this bore 41 is closed by a plug 42 as shown.

a position where it extends across the tubing passage 14 to Vclosethe passage; or-to a position where i-t is retracted with one end in the socket 36, so as to open the tubing passage 14. 'j t The plug valve 43 comprises the two end opposed memj bers 44;an'd 45K- which have their adjacent ends ,cut-out from theftop sides thereof -to form the curved recesses or-transverse channels 46. These channels extend down through approximately half the diameter of the members and also extend through the major portion of the length of the members as is clearly shown in Figure l and each recess has a short `bot-tom face or iioor 46a in which are formed two tapped bolt or screw sockets 47 which are spaced apart transversely of the member as illustrated in Figure 2.

Adapted to position upon the floor surfaces 46a of the two recesses, so as to completely cover the surfaces of the recesses, is the elongate rubber or rubber composition packing element which is generally designated 48 and which, as shown in Figure 3, has the long flat central portion 49 and the upturned end portions 50, the edges of which are rounded as indicated at 51 so as to conform to the external circular contour of the member 44 or 45 in the recess 46 of which it is positioned. Also as will be readily seen upon reference to Figures 2 and 3, the packA- ing element is of a width to extend the full diameter of the plugmembers 44 and 45 andthe overall length of the packing element is greater than the diameter of the Vtubing passage 14. Thus it will be seen that when Vthe plug is in closing'position the side edges of the flat inter-V mediate portionr49 of the packing element will bear against the opposite faces of the plug chamber at opposite sides thereof asshown in Figure 2 and thevcurved end portions 51 will bear against the surfaces vofthe upper Y halves of the passages 24 and 26.

In addition to the members 44 and 45 Vand the packing elementV 48, the plug valve includes a coupling saddle which is generally designated 52 and which, as is clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3 -is of slightly less than semicircular cross sectional formrand has a atbottom face 53 and rounded ends fiagainst which the intermediate portion 49 and end portions `5t) of the packing element position.

,This connecting saddle 52 is provided with the' transis formedwithfsimilar or matching openings 56 and these l openings'and the passages 55 match the tapped bolt sockets 47 to receive the threaded ends of holding bolts 57.

, The plug member 44 which is-nearest Yto the cap 35 is Vprovided with a longitudinally extending threaded lscrew a passage 58 in which is received Vthe elongate plug actuating screw? which has an unthreaded shank portion 60 at its outer end which passes through the bore 39. This shank 60 is squared on its outer end as` indicated at 61 to facilitate fthe application of a suitable'tool to the screw for turning the latter.

ln line with the threaded passage 58 in the member 44 there is an unthreaded passage 62 formed in the plug member 45 into which the end of thedscrew may pass to permit the plug to be shifted outwardly or to open position with respect to the tubing passage 14.

In the operation of the present tubing head when it is desired to close olf the tubing passage 14 the plug Yoperating screw 57 is rotated in the proper direction to feed the plug valve inwardly toward the stop 34. When the end of the member 45 comes to position against the stop 34, further movement of the plug valve as a Whole will be stopped andin this position it willbe seen that the periphery ofthe packing element 48 will have its curved porltions 51 lon opposite sides of the tubing passage 14, whileY the portions connecting such curved portions will extend along opposite faces of the chamber'inwhich the plug is located, so that the movement of iluid'through the tubing passage 14'past the plug :cannot ltake place.

'Due' to the fact that theplug members 44'andr45 may have slight movement relative to one` another by reason of the form of the bolt passages 55, if itis desired to inv crease'the pressure of the periphery of the packing Velement against the adjacent wall surfaces, this can be effected by forcing the plug valve member 44 inwardly,

whereby the saddle will also be shifted slightly toward the member 45 and the packing element will be compressed and caused to expand outwardly to increase its sealing contact with the engaged surfaces.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there is provided by the present invention a novel ram type plug valve tubing head structure having a novel plug valve in which the sealing action can be readily controlled.

I claim:

An oil well tubing head comprising a body having a tool andtubing passage therethrough, means carried by the body at each end of said passage Yfor securing'the body to and in line with well apparatus, aligned arms integral with said body and extending radially of said passage, said arms having aligned Ylongitudinal passages forming a tubular chamber intersecting the body passage, a closure member at the outer end of each arm passage, a cylindrical `valve body slidably positonedn said chamber for movement to a position across the body passage to close the latter, said valve Vbody comprising two spaced .cy1in. drical members having curved recesses 'formed across the sides thereof and .opening through their adjacent ends, a single body of packing material lyinggin said recesses and bridging theispace between the members, a transversely arcuate saddle member lying upon the body of packing material, said body of packing material having a continuous edge lying -ush with the lcylindrical surface of the -valve body, said saddle member having end faces opposing correspondingly'formed faces of the recesses, said 'packing material Vbeing pressed :between said opposing faces, means loosely coupling the saddle and the cylindrical members whereby relative movement between the same is permitted, the periphery of the packing material being arranged to encircle the body Vpassage when the valveisin closing position thereacross, and means for effecting axial movement of the valve bodyand for forcing thecylindricalV members thereof toward one another when it is in-said closing position to effect the compressionof the packing element and lateral projection ofthe A periphery thereof beyond the peripheryof the valvek body members.

References Cited in the Vtile of `this patent y UNITED STATES PATENTS Rector l iApr. 22, 1952 

